(PHILADELPHIA) – An international team of researchers led by Daniel J. Rader, MD, associate director of Penn Medicine's Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, has received a $6 million grant from the Paris-based Fondation Leducq to study the molecular genetics of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The team's proposal, "Molecular Mechanisms of Novel Genes Associated with Plasma Lipids and Cardiovascular Disease," was selected to receive the award through the Fondation's Transatlantic Networks of Excellence Program.
The investigation will focus on determining the molecular mechanisms of some of the most compelling genes to come out of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for coronary heart disease and heart attack. Specifically, the research team will study six novel genes found by GWAS to be associated with heart disease in order to rigorously assess their function in physiological processes associated with cardiovascular disease and whether or not they are viable targets for future therapeutic developments.
The multidisciplinary, international research team includes experts in epidemiology, human genetics, molecular and cell biology, and animal physiology. In addition to identifying new potential therapeutic targets, this research program will also establish an infrastructure for the systematic evaluation of future GWAS results in the area of cardiovascular disease.
The award is funded through the Fondation Leducq's Transatlantic Networks of Excellence Program. Each research network receives $6 million over five years to support a collaborative research program involving European and North American investigators.
In addition to Rader, other scientists involved in the study include:
European Coordinator: Christian Weber, MD, RWTH, Aachen University, Germany
Members: Endre Kiss-Toth, PhD, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom; Thomas Quertermous, MD, Stanford Cardiovascular Medicine, US; Sekar Kathiresan, MD, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, US; Mason Freeman, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, US; Heiko Runz, MD, University of Heidelberg, Germany; Rainer Pepperkok, PhD, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany; John Danesh, PhD, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Robert Hegele, MD, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Ronald Krauss, MD, University of California, Berkeley, US; Marju Orho-Melander, MD, Lund University, Sweden; and Ira Tabas, MD, PhD, Columbia University, US.
The Fondation Leducq, a Paris-based nonprofit institution, is dedicated to improving human health through international efforts to combat cardiovascular disease.
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $3.6 billion enterprise.
Penn's School of Medicine is currently ranked #2 in U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools, and is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $367.2 million awarded in the 2008 fiscal year.
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